Enduring influence of the purpose of experiences: Encoding-retrieval interactions in word and pseudoword perception

Letters in words are identified more easily than are letters in nonwords or letters alone. These effects may depend on separate representations of general lexical attributes and of specific contexts, or on memory for particular experiences. We required subjects to associate meanings with some pseudowords and to perform a physical analysis on others. After 24 h, subjects identified pseudowords associated with meanings more accurately than novel or physically analyzed pseudowords. However, perceptual accuracy was independent of recall of meanings, suggesting that meaning was not available as a context-free resource. Instead, perceptual accuracy was correlated with the interdependence of stimulus components in perception, suggesting that encountering pseudowords for different purposes had caused different perceptual organizations, which exercised lasting influence. We concluded that the perceptual advantage of words may be incidental to the purposes for which words are ordinarily processed, and may depend on preservation of particular perceptual experiences.